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>I'm just curious (some would say *extremely* curious indeed, but that's
>another story...), how do the folks on the list handle figures in their
>documents? I used to do sketches and let designers handle it, and even
>then I did figures as an afterthought, after the text was finished.
>We've gotten ahold of some pretty good line drawing tools here, and now
>I find myself sometimes using figures as a way to clarify my own mental
>organization about topics, chapters, even entire books, prior to
>writing. I'm more inclined to develop a figure when I feel I need one in
>the text right then and there. And I'm getting that feeling more often
>as I write, these days.
>How do the rest of you work? Do you use a lot of figures? How do you
>develop them? In the document cycle, when do you develop them? Do you
>include them in technical reviews?
Len,
Like you, I include figures in my documents wherever I think they'll
clarify text or enhance the reader's ability to understand the topic. The
types of figures I use include: diagramming a process or sequence of
events, diagramming the relationship of parts to a whole, or drawing a
widget with callouts.
I usually develop the concept of a figure during the early draft stage and
then create the actual figure, using a drawing program, when I have enough
information.
Nancy Burns
National Solar Observatory, Tucson, AZ
nburns -at- noao -dot- edu
